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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26519641">Memory</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Screaming_0ctopus/pseuds/Screaming_0ctopus'>Screaming_0ctopus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Duel Masters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Multi, Polyamory, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:14:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26519641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Screaming_0ctopus/pseuds/Screaming_0ctopus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bakura Ryou/Marik Ishtar, Bakura Ryou/Original Female Character(s), Kaiba Seto/Original Male Character(s), Marik Ishtar/Original Female Character(s), marik ishtar/bakura ryou/original female character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Duel Masters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1928356</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Memory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Seto had scant memories he wished to keep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Holding Mokuba the day he was born would never leave him. The light, too-large bundle laid in his arms by a smiling father whose face had long since disappeared. The softest snuffles from the tiniest button of a nose. The pressure in his heart something that would never leave him even in his darkest years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were more of mokuba than anyone else, for sure. The first time he said Seto’s name, and the first time he checked him in chess still made him fizz with something so much More than pride.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there were others.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue eyes and white hair inviting him to play for a day swam before him when he tried so desperately to remember why Humans were worth anything. Letters written late at night during rest hours and stashed in secret to pour over after lights-out. The feeble dream that this was secret. Just for them. A simple pen-friend he couldn’t imagine doing without for those years they managed to keep contact before Gozaburo made him focus harder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stomach churning nerves when they met again, curling fire up and into his chest and out between his lips in little fog puffs on a winter evening. The fear of rejection, of not measuring up to the expectations held for the newly appointed CEO melting into liquid relief at being held for who he was and the connection they’d had blossoming in years before.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The soothing tone of a friend’s voice melting distant years and future worries into something that dared to get close to happiness. The surprise of how the hell did he get prettier followed by the cold prick at the base of his neck at what that thought could mean. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was sad to him that even now, his sister pulled up last. The fewest memories and the last to come to mind. Their meeting remain the firmest, but still remained dubious in its positivity. It was fleeting for sure, Gozaburo guiding her down the stairs of the manor toward him and Mokuba. The briefest introductions, “Maya, this is Seto and Mokuba. They’re your new brothers.” followed by instructions on how to answer questions from the press waiting outside. The housemaid whisking her away again spouting empty praises about her behavior under pressure afterward, teal eyes still confused and jumping between her new “brothers”. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t for another month till they saw her again, when she turned up with sandwiches, tea, and cakes, and stated Father had said she could share with them. There was guilt in him now at that he thought how much more attention he’d paid the food rather than her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His first real positive memory came later when she returned for another shared meal and noticed he was feverish. Mokuba told him later that she declared herself his nurse and put herself to work taking care of him, an antic that amused the staff and Gozaburo thought hilarious enough he let her entertain herself. Knowing she’d cared with only barely knowing him softened his heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It soured later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seto remembered waking that night to her refilling his water. The fear and embarrassment in him when she asked about his scars, something he’d managed to hide from even Mokuba. The hurt look when he told her to mind her own business.  How small her voice bad gotten when she parsed out the medicine to finish off the fever and even helped him take it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was how most memories with Maya went. Something whole and soft that curdled with a defensive snarl from him. How most interactions with him soured over the years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wanted to learn to go back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Go back to soft and warm. To leave sharp and biting behind where it belonged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was willing to work towards that.</span>
</p>
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